From the Snow to earth, the Genesis of mariguana” According to the sceintist

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National: New studies on marijuana are churned out nearly every day, with most of them focusing on novel findings about the plant’s therapeutic potential and the implications of it’s legalization globally.

A study published this month in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology documents the fascinating evolution of humanity’s relationship with marijuana over the course of thousands of years of history.

The researchers compiled a trove of documents from around the world and examined earlier studies in order.

“provide a critical and comprehensive evaluation, from the ancient times to our days, of the ethnological, botanical, chemical and pharmacological aspects of ‘Cannabis’ with a vision for promoting further pharmaceutical research to explore its complete potential as a therapeutic agent” Reviewed by the Researcher

*_Where does cannabis come from?_*

Central Asia and Southeast Asia are considered the regions where the plant originated. It’s also where cannabis was domesticated.

“Believed to play a vital role in its evolution,” according to the study.

*_What was it used for?*_

Before its medical properties became known, the fibrous plant was commonly used for textile manufacturing. Archeologists have discovered ‘sophisticated plaited basketry’ based on cannabis at Czech Palaeolithic sites, for example.

“In fact, it has been referred to as the oldest known cultivated fibre plant and even today it is used as a constituent of fishing nets,” Research reviewed

*_How did people discover its potential as a recreational botanical?_*

There are a couple schools of thought on this topic. But from a ‘Western-centered viewpoint’, researchers generally believe that natural events caused the plant to be accidentally burned, inadvertently revealing its “psychotropic nature.”

*_Where has cannabis been featured in religion?_*

All over the place, apparently. Religious texts where marijuana is referenced span from the Old Testament, where it was seemingly mentioned as an “incense and sacred oil,” to Hinduism and tantric Buddhism, where the plant was once believed to “facilitate the meditation and communication with the spirits,” according to the new paper.

*_When was marijuana first used as medicine?_*

There’s certainly room for debate on this, but the researchers said that the timeline started about 5,000 years ago in China. The so-called “father” of Chinese agriculture, emperor Chen Nung, included the plant in the first Chinese pharmacopeia. That text said cannabis was prescribed for “fatigue, rheumatism and malaria.”

“Moreover, Chinese physicians used the seeds of [cannabis] mainly for their vegetal oils and proteins.”

*_What are the origins of prohibition?_*

In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a “papal bull” that denounced both witchcraft and the use of marijuana. Of course, the bulk of prohibitionary policies were introduced in the 20th century—with the “Marijuana Tax Act” in the United States in 1937 and an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom in 1971.